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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


<^ 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  Institut  canadien  de  microreproductions  historiques 

1980 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notea/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  me    alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


0 

n 
n 

n 

□ 

n 


y 


D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


Covers  damaged/ 
Couverture  endommag^e 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurde  et/ou  pelliculde 

Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  gdographiques  en  couleur 

Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material/ 
Relid  avec  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  reliure  serr^e  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  intdrieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajout^es 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  Stait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  6t6  film^es. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  suppl6mentaires: 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  6t6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-dtre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  methods  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiqu^s  ci-dessous. 


I      I    Coloured  pages/ 


D 


Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommag^es 

Pages  restored  and/oi 

Pages  restaurdes  et/ou  pelliculdes 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxe( 
Pages  d6color6es,  tachet^es  ou  piqudes 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  ddtachdes 

Showthrough/ 
Transparence 

Quality  of  prir 

Quality  indgale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  materia 
Comprond  du  materiel  supplementaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


I  I  Pages  damaged/ 

r~pt  Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 

I  I  Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 

I  I  Pages  detached/ 

I  I  Showthrough/ 

I  I  Quality  of  print  varies/ 

I  I  Includes  supplementary  material/ 

I  I  Only  edition  available/ 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  dtd  filmdes  d  nouveau  de  facon  d 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


0This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 
Ce  document  est  fiim6  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqu6  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


26X 


30X 


12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


] 


32X 


The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

Library  of  the  Pubiic 
Archives  of  Canada 

The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  —^(meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


L'exempiaire  filmd  fut  reprodult  grdce  d  la 
g6n6rosit6  de: 

La  bibliothdque  des  Archives 
publiques  du  Canada 

Les  images  suivantes  ont  6td  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettetd  de  l'exempiaire  filmd,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 

Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprim6e  sont  film6s  en  commenpant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmds  en  commen^ant  par  la 
premidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaltra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  — •►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbole  V  signifie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
filmds  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diffdrents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reprodult  en  un  seul  clichd,  il  est  filmd  d  partir 
de  I'angle  sup6rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


•^   I".. 

: :  i ; 

:  '  8 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

! 


t\  D  D  R  E  S  S 


DrxiVEKrn  bt 


THE  HON.  JOSEPH   HOWE, 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  FOR    THE  I'ROVINQFS, 


AT    THE 


II  c>  w  ii:    i^^  E  s  T I  \r  A  L , 


FILVMINGHAM,    MASSACHUSETTS,    AUGUST    31,    ISri. 


A*i,^y 


B  O  S  TON: 

PRESS    OF    ROCKWELL     &     CHURCHILL, 

12  2    M'  A  8  r?  I  N  o  T  <)  N     Street. 

187  1. 


"T 


f 


A  D  D  K  E  S  S 


DEUVERZt)  BT 


THE  HON.  JOSEPH  HOWE, 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  FOR  THE  PxlOVINGES, 


AT   THS 


HO^YE     I*^E8TIVA.L, 


FRAMINGHAM,    MASSACHUSETTS,    AUGUST   31,   1871. 


^}<K« 


BOSTON: 

PRESS    OF    ROCKWELL    &    CHURCHILL, 

12:2    Wasuinoton    Street. 

18  7  1. 


BZ501 


ADDRESS. 


Mr.  Chairman t  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  — 

To  be  invited  to  address  such  an  audience  as  this,  in  the 
centre  of  intellectual  New  England,  I  regard  as  a  great  dis- 
tinction. Yet  the  position  has  its  drawbacks.  The  com- 
mittee have  announced  an  "  Oration  ;  "  but  a  simple  and  good- 
humored  introduction  to  the  business  of  the  day  is  all  that  I 
shall  attempt.  If  disposed  to  be  more  ambitious,  and  to  try 
a  bolder  flight,  I  should  be  afraid  to  risk  comparisons,  that 
you  would  not  fail  to  institute,  and  which  I  am  not  vain 
enough  to  challenge.  You  have  not  forgotten  the  stately 
and  nervous  arguments  of  Webster,  or  the  polished  elocu- 
tion and  silvery  voice  of  Everett ;  and  though  those  masters 
of  the  art  have  passed  away,  you  can  still  sit  at  the  feet  of 
Emerson,  listen  to  the  fiery  declamation  of  Phillips,  wonder 
at  Lowell's  marvellous  felicity  of  phrase  and  luxuriance 
of  illustration,  and  fold  to  your  hearts,  with  a  love  akin  to 
worship,  our  good  friend  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes.  Let  us 
thank  God  for  these  great  lights,  which  have  difiused  or  are 
still  shedding  their  radiance  over  the  industrial  and  in- 
tellectual life  of  a  great  nation  ;  but  this  is  a  family  party, 
and  as  a  member  of  the  family,  I  throw  myself  upon  your 
indulgence.  We  are  here  not  to  make  a  parade  of  our 
eloquence,  if  we  have  any,  but  to  spend  a  day  in  holy  brother- 
hood and  sweet  communion. 

Drawn  from  many  States  and  Provinces,  but  springing 
from  a  common   stock,  we  meet  for  peaceful  and  legitimate 


puri)08e8,  to  grasp  each  other's  hands,  to  look  into  each 
other's  faces,  to  stutly  each  other's  forms,  and  to  mark  how 
the  fine  original  structure  of  the  race  has  borne  change  of 
aliment,  diversity  of  climate,  and  the  wear  and  tear  of 
sedentary  or  active  life,  amidst  the  rapid  mental  and  bodily 
movement  of  the  fast  age  in  which  we  live. 

These  family  gatherings  were,  1  believe,  first  suggested  in 
New  England,  and  their  success  is  to  be  traced  to  the  natural 
outcrop  of  feelings  that  are  very  rational.  A  wise  nation 
preserves  its  records,  gathers  up  its  muniments,  decorates 
the  tombs  of  its  illustrious  dead,  repairs  its  great  public 
structures,  and  fosters  national  pride  and  love  of  country,  by 
perpetual  references  to  the  sacrifices  and  glories  of  the  past. 
But,  divide  the  nation  by  households,  and  under  every  roof 
you  will  find,  let  national  pride  be  ever  so  strong,  that 
family  pride,  the  interest  in  the  narrower  circle  that  bears 
a  common  name,  is  quite  as  active.  Our  literature  is  filled 
with  types  of  the  septs,  and  clans,  and  families,  into  which 
the  wide  world  is  divided,  and  who  cling  to  their  old  recol- 
lections and  traditions  with  marvellous  tenacity. 

In  the  British  Islands  this  family  sentiment  finds  vent,  and 
expands  itself  with  great  luxuriance  and  grace,  under  the 
shelter  of  the  law  of  primogeniture.  Emerson,  in  his 
delightful  book  on  England,  tells  us  that  there  are  "  three 
hundred  palaces, "  scattered  all  over  the  face  of  that  country. 
A  great  many  of  these  are  comparatively  modern  structures, 
reared  by  the  merchant  princes  and  great  manufacturers  of 
England,  who,  in  comparatively  modern  times,  have  been 
enriched  by  the  abounding  commerce  and  restless  industry 
of  a  great  and  prosperous  empire. 

But  by  far  the  larger  number  are  the  growth  of  centuries ; 
"the  stately  homes  of  England,"  where  her  historic  families, 
many  of  them  older  than  the  Conquest,  store  up  and  pre- 
serve all  that  can  illustrate  the  brilliant  and  heroic  qualities 
of  the  race,  and  prompt  to  the  highest  order  of  emulation. 


Many  of  thoso  old  structures,  such  ns  Warwick  Oastlo,  tbo 
atrojigliold  of  the  kinj^-makcr,  and  Alnwick,  the  scat  of  ''tho 
stout  Harls  of  Nortliumborlaud,"  thoui^h  converted  into 
luxurious  raodcrn  rcsidcucos,  and  cnibcliishcd  with  all  that 
high  art  in  these  recent  timos  can  furnish,  occupy  the  com- 
mandiuf^  sites  which  made  them  formidable  centuries  ago, 
and  wear  tho  outward  semblance  of  strong  mediaeval  for- 
tresses, from  which  a  stone  has  scarcely  been  removed.  In 
many  other  cases  tho  stern  front  of  war  has  been  softened  and 
toned  down  l>y  the  gradual  i)roces8  of  decay,  tho  luxurlaiu^o 
of  vegetation,  or  by  improvements,  wiiicii  have  placed 
modern  structures,  of  vast  proportions,  ui)on  the  old  feudal 
sites,  replete  with  every  convenience  for  ease  and  comfort, 
which,  from  tho  thickness  of  the  walls,  and  the  defensive 
character  of  tho  design,  could  not  always  be  commanded  in 
the  old  foud;d  castles. 

But  whether  the  stylo  of  the  structure  be  ancient  or 
modern,  it  is  surrounded  by  an  estate,  which,  from  gener- 
ation to  generation,  has  Ijcloiigod  to  one  family,  —  been 
known  by  one  name,  —  and  the  iiouso,  whatever  the  style  of 
architecture  may  be,  is  tilled  with  all  that  can  ilhistrate  tJhe 
manhood  and  the  intellectual  vigor  of  tliat  family,  from  its 
rise,  amidst  tho  convulsions  of  some  shadowy  by-gone  age, 
down  to  tho  hour  in  which,  with  mingled  wonder  and  ad- 
miration, we  survey  the  marvellous  results  of  a  system  not 
recognized  by  the  institutions  under  which  wo  live. 

That  those  fatuilies  should  desire  to  preserve  their  estates 
intact,  and  gather  around  them  the  evidences  of  their  antiqui- 
ty and  achievements,  is  not  at  all  surprising,  'when  we  relloct, 
that  a  very  large  proportion  of  them  arc  in8e[)arably  interwo- 
ven with  the  great  events  which  have  miide  the  history  of 
their  country  memorable  ;  and  the  valuable  services  rendered 
to  the  nation  by  many  of  these  families,  not  only  throw 
around  their  country  seats  and  personal  relics  an  indescribable 


6 


charui,  but  give  them  a  strong  hold  on  the  affections  of  the 
people. 

A  iStanley  won  the  field  of  Floddon.  One  of  the  Talbots, 
who  led  the  English  forces  in  France,  and  fought  against  Joan 
of  Arc,  was  the  victor  in  forty-seven  battles  and  dangerous 
skirmishes.  The  Percys  have  seven  times  driven  back  the 
tide  of  foreign  invasion,  and  for  eight  hundred  years  have 
stood  in  the  front  of  resistance  to  regal  tyranny  :  and,  say  the 
writers  from  whom  1  quote,*  "  One  Kussell  has  staked  his 
head  for  the  Protestant  faith  ;  a  second  the  family  estates  in 
successful  resistance  to  a  despot ;  a  third  has  died  on  the  scaf- 
fold for  the  liberties  of  Englishmen  ;  a  fourth  has  aided  mate- 
rially in  the  revolution  which  substituted  law  for  the  will  of 
the  sovereigns' ;  a  fifth  spent  his  life  in  resisting  tlie  attempt 
of  the  House  of  Brunswick  to  rebuild  the  power  of  the  throne, 
and  gave  one  of  the  first  examples  of  just  religious  govern- 
ment in  Ireland;  and  a  sixth  organized  and  carried  through  a 
bloodless  but  complete  transfer  of  power  from  his  own  order 
to  the  middle  classes." 

These  are  eminent  services,  and  we  cannot  wonder  that  the 
faiiiily  seats,  where  such  men  were  bred,  are  religiously  pre- 
served by  their  descendants,  and  regarded  with  deep  interest 
by  the  nation. 

There  is  no  name  more  familiar  to  Americans  than  that  of 
Lord  North,  who,  under  (leorgo  tiie  Third,  conducted,  for 
many  years,  the  disastrous  war  which  was  only  closed  by  the 
establisliment  of  the  Independence  of  these  United  States. 
How  few  of  all  the  able  and  distinguished  men,  who,  on  your 
side,  led  in  that  great  struggle,  have  left  behind  tliem  homes 
that  have  been  preserved,  ])roperties  still  undivided,  or  com- 
mon centres  where  their  pictures,  books,  and  family  muniments 
have  been  treasured  up,  to  keep  alive  for  succeeding  genera- 
tions   tlie  memory   of  their  martial  or  diplomatic  achiove- 


*  SanforU  and  Townshcnd's  Governing  Fiuuilics  of  England. 


ments  !  By  the  personal  exertions  of  Everett,  Mount  Vernon 
has  been  preserved;  and,  to  their  honor  ])o  it  spoken,  the 
Adams  family,  by  a  rare  exhibition  of  hereditary  qualities, 
have  held  their  property  and  maintained  their  positions  in 
the  highest  circles  of  political  and  social  elevation.  But 
nearly  all  the  others,  though  honora1>ly  known  to  history, 
have  passed  away,  and  have  left  no  property  to  embellish  the 
sccLery,  no  rallying  places  for  their  descendants,  no  familiar 
evidences  of  their  existence. 

In  the  heart  of  Oxfordshire  stands  Wroxton  Abbey,  the 
seat  of  the  Norths.  It  is  an  old  ecclesiastical  structure, 
turned  into  a  modern  residence  of  surpassing  beauty,  where  all 
that  is  antique  is  preserved  with  religious  care,  and  gracefully 
interwoven  with  whatever  can  administer  to  refined  luxury 
and  convenience.  It  is  surrounded  by  forty  thousand  acres 
of  the  best  land  in  England.  The  outlying  farms  are  culti- 
vated by  a  prosperous  tenantry,  whose  families  have  occupied 
the  same  lands  for  centuries,  many  of  whom  keep  hunters 
worth  five  hundred  guineas,  and  pay  a  thousand  sovereigns 
a  year  of  annual  rent.  Ancestral  trees,  older  than  the  abbey, 
fling  their  shadows  down  upon  sinuous  walks  and  carriage 
drives  that  appear  aln^ost  endless  ;  whilst  every  Avindow  in  the 
house  looks  out  upon  verdant  lawns,  well-kept  gardens,  or 
clumps  of  tree  roses,  interspersed  with  masses  of  evergreens, 
the  preservation  of  which  is  so  much  favortjd  by  the  moist 
cliuiate  of  England. 

The  Baroness  North,  grand-daughter  of  Lord  North  of  the 
Revolutionary  War,  and  her  husband.  Colonel  North,  reside 
on  this  beautiful  estate ;  and  while  distinguished  for  the 
largeness  of  heart  and  great  hospitality  which  become  their 
stations,  are  not  unmindful  of  the  hereditary  obligation 
which  devolves  upon  them  to  treasure,  to  enlarge,  and  to 
transmit  to  their  descendants,  all  that  can  illustrate  the 
daily  life,  the  personal  traits,  or  the  distinguished  services 
of  the  houoo  to  which  they  belong,  in  all  its  branches. 


8 


You  are  aware  that  the  family  of  the  Norths  was  interwo- 
ven with  the  Guildfords  and  Greys.  The  hundred  rooms 
and  long  corridors  of  Wroxton  tell  the  family  story,  from 
its  foundation  in  149(>  to  the  present  hour.  Beautiful  women, 
in  the  costume  of  the  period  in  which  they  flourished  —  chil- 
dren of  all  ages  —  eminent  Lawyers,  Privy  Councillors, 
Soldiers,  Ambassadors  and  Judges,  line  the  walls  of  every 
staircase  and  of  every  room. 

Many  of  these  pictures  are  valuable  as  works  of  art,  but 
their  chief  value  is  in  the  record  they  supply  of  forma  long 
passed  away,  —  of  features  that  cannot  be  reproduced,  and 
for  the  facilities  they  aflford  to  every  rising  generation  to 
study  and  transmit  the  family  story,  by  the  aid  of  authentic 
materials,  which  in  our  countries,  and  under  our  systems,  we 
can  very  rarely  supply. 

Two  or  three  rooms  in  this  old  house  deeply  interested  mo. 
One  was  Lord  North's  Library,  in  which  every  book  that  he 
had  ever  owned  or  handled  has  been  preserved.  Though 
unsuccessful  as  a  War  Minister,  he  was  a  scholar  and  a  wit, 
and  many  of  the  volumes  are  rare  editions,  or  presentation 
copies,  enriched  by  autographs  or  annotations. 

A  small  room,  opening  from  the  library,  was  Lord  North's 
study.  A  very  remarkable  likeness  of  him  overhangs  and 
looks  down  on  the  table  at  which  he  wrote  his  despatches. 
The  inkstand,  and  I  might  almost  add  the  pens  with  which 
they  were  written,  have  been  preserved. 

A  bedroom  in  this  fine  old  edifice  interested  me  even  more 
deeply.  I  slept  one  night  in  it  without  knowing  to  whom  it 
had  belonged.  It  was  a  stately  chamber,  hung  with  arras, 
greatly  faded,  with  quaint  old  andirons  in  an  open  fireplace, 
a  low  bedstead  with  high  posts ;  and  all  the  furniture,  though 
admirably  preserved,  bearing  the  unmistakable  imi)ress  of 
antiquity.  To  my  great  surprise  I  was  told,  on  coming 
down  to  breakfast  on  the  following  morning,  that  I  had  occu- 
pied the  apartment  of  Lady  Jane  Grey,  and  slept  in  her  bed, 


■ , 


I 


9 


nothing  having  ])ccn  changed  in  tho  room,  since  her  death, 
but  the  bed-linen,  wliich  had  worn  out.  I  atn  not  quite  sure 
that  I  ever  slept  so  soundly  in  the  same  apartment  a  second 
night  as  I  did  thu  first.  Visions  of  the  beautiful  martyr  to 
misplaced  ambition  seemed  ever  flitting  ronnd  me,  and  I 
sometimes  fancied  that  the  grim  headsman,  with  his  axe,  Avas 
lingering  in  the  long  shadows  flung  out  by  the  massive  walls. 

A  volume  might  be  written  descriptive  of  the  beauties  of 
Wroxton,  and  of  the  treasures  of  art  and  of  biography  which 
it  contains,  and  yet  it  is  a  comparatively  modern  edifice,  nor 
do  the  Norths  trace  back  their  lineage  nearly  so  far  as  many 
of  the  great  historic  families  of  England. 

But  I  have  taken  this  single  house  to  show  you  how  strong 
is  the  family  sentiment  in  our  mother  country,  and  to  answer, 
in  advance,  those  who  would  smile  at  our  humble  endeavors 
to  engraft  upon  our  democratic  institutions  some  graceful 
forms  of  development  for  a  yearning  that  is  universal,  and 
for  the  outcrop  of  feelings  as  old  as  history. 

Neither  in  the  United  States,  nor  in  Canada,  is  any  provis- 
ion made  for  this  development.  By  our  old  laws  two-thirds 
of  the  real  estate  were  given  to  the  eldest  son,  but  modern 
legislation  has  swept  this  provision  away,  and  property  is  now 
equally  divided  in  all  our  States  and  Provinces.  The  univer- 
sal feeling  sustains  this  condition  of  the  law ;  entails  are  dis- 
couraged, and  fortunes  are  earned  only  to  be  distributed, 
often  with  a  rapidity  that  far  outruns  the  process  of  accumu- 
lation. A  spendthrift  is  too  apt  to  follow  a  miser,  and  the 
thriftless,  bred  in  luxurious  homes,  often  seem  to  have  come 
into  the  world  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  scatter  what  tho 
industrious  have  earned,  and  to  disperse,  without  a  thought 
of  name  or  race,  all  that  their  fathers  prized,  and  in  wliich 
their  descendants,  if  not  below  the  ordinary  scale  of  human- 
ity, would  be  sure  to  take  an  interest. 

The  democratic  system,  which  prevails  all  over  this  conti- 
nent, cannot  be  changed.      It  has  its  advantages,  and  tho 


10 


evils  arising  from  the  law  of  primogeniture  cannot  be  veiled, 
even  by  the  graceful  surroundings  to  which  I  have  referred  ; 
and  the  practical  (juestion  which  we  have  met  here  to  endeav- 
or to  solve  is  this,  —  Can  we,  without  disturbing  the  law,  or 
disregarding  the  common  sentiment  of  the  continent,  keep 
alive  our  family  name — trace  back  our  family  story,  and 
while  dividing  our  property  among  our  children,  divide  with 
them  also  all  that  we  have  been  able  to  learn,  to  authenticate, 
and  to  transmit,  of  the  family  from  which  they  have  sprung? 

May  wo  not  do  more  ?  May  we  not  so  pass  this  day  as  to 
make  it  a  festival  in  the  finest  sense  of  the  term  —  to  the  repe- 
tition of  which  the  thousands  who  bear  our  name  will  look 
forward  with  intense  delight  ? 

In  England  the  Howe?  have  lived  and  flourished  for  centu- 
ries. The  Howe  banner  hangs  as  high,  in  Henry  7th's  chapel, 
as  any  other  evidence  of  honorable  service,  and  the  battle  of 
the  first  of  June  will  be  remembered  so  long  as  the  naval  an- 
nals of  England  lust.  In  the  old  French  wars,  for  the  posses- 
sion of  this  continent,  one  Howe  fell  at  Ticonderoga,  and 
another  was  killed  on  the  Nova  Scotia  frontier.  In  the  Revo- 
lutionary War  the  Howes  were  not  fortunate.  I  have  heard  my 
father  describe  Sir  William,  as  he  saw  him  leading  up  the  Brit- 
ish forces  at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  with  the  bullets  flying 
like  hail  around  him.  But  I  am  apprehensive  that  in  that 
old  war  God  was  not  "on  the  side  of  the  strongest  columns," 
and  that  the  time  had  arrived  Avhen  the  peopling  and  develop- 
ment of  a  continent  could  not  be  postponed  by  the  agencies 
of  fleets  and  armies. 

The  Howes,  who  have  been  enabled,  trace  their  family  back 
to  the  reign  of  Henry  8th,  and  seem  to  have  held  estates 
in  Somersetshire,  Gloucester,  Wiltshire,  Nottingham,  and 
Fermanagh  in  Ireland.  Jack  Howe,  as  he  was  familiarly 
called,  who  was  a  member  of  Parliament  in  the  reigns  of 
William  and  Anno,  was  a  fluent  speaker,  and,  like  a  good 
many  other  people  in  those  days,  had  a  great  dislike  to  stand- 


11 


lUg  armies. 


His  son,  who  sat  for  Nottingham  in  the  Con- 
vention Parliament,  was  one  of  those  who  established  the  lib- 
erties of  England,  in  1688. 

But  many  branches  of  the  family  arc  scattered  all  about 
England.  I  found  three  Howes,  bearing  my  own  family 
Christian  names,  lying  side  by  side  in  the  church-yard  at 
Newport,  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  I  learned  that  in  the 
western  end  of  the  Island  a  family  of  honest  farmers,  who 
are  all  Howes,  have  been  living  there  on  the  same  land,  be- 
yond the  memory  of  man. 

I  found  three  others,  all  males,  lying  just  inside  the  grave- 
yard at  Berwick  on  Tweed.  I  could  not  hear  of  any  Howes 
in  the  neighbcu-hood,  and  I  took  it  for  granted  that  they  must 
have  been  killed  in  some  old  border  light,  which  is  not  at  all 
improbable  if  they  came  from  the  south  side  of  the  stream. 

But,  passing  over  the  nobles  and  the  plebeians  of  England, 
I  must  confess  that  there  is  one  Howe  of  whom  we  may  all 
be  proud.  This  is  John  Howe,  who  was  Chaplain  to  Oliver 
Cromwell,  and  whose  fine  form  and  noble  features  are  pre- 
served in  some  of  the  old  engravings.  He  must  have  been 
an  eloquent  preacher,  for  he  won  his  place  by  a  sermon  which 
the  I'rotector  happened  to  hear.  That  he  was  a  fine  scholar, 
and  learned  theologian,  is  proved  by  the  body  of  divinity, 
written  in  classic  English,  which  ho  has  left  behind  him. 
That  he  was  a  noble  man  is  proved,  also,  by  a  single  anecdote 
which  is  preserved  to  us.  On  one  occasion  he  was  soliciting 
aid  or  patronage  for  some  person  whom  he  thought  deserv- 
ing, when  Cromwell  turned  sharply  round,  and,  by  a  single 
question,  let  a  flood  of  light  in  upon  the  disinterestedness  and 
amiability  of  his  character,  which  will  illuminate  it  in  all  time 
to  come.  "John,"  said  the  Protector,  "you  are  always  ask- 
ing something  for  some  poor  fellow  ;  why  do  yon  never  ask 
anything  for  yourself?"  INIy  father's  name  was  John,  and  I 
have  often  tried  to  trace  him  back  to  this  good  Christian, 
whose  character  in  many  points  his  own  so  much  resembled. 


12 


I  may  hazard  one  observation,  before  passing  from  the  Eng- 
lish Howes,  and  it  is  this,  that  the  present  possessor  of  the 
peerage  had  better  ))estir  himself,  and  do  something  to  add 
lustre  to  his  coronet,  or  else  we  Howes  in  America  will  begin 
to  think  it  has  dropped  on  an  inactive  brain.  He  lights  lio 
battles  —  he  writes  no  books  —  he  makes  no  s[)eeches,  and 
although  1  believe  ho  is  a  very  amiable  person,  and  was  a 
great  friend  of  the  late  Queen  Dowager,  I  beg  to  enter  my 
protest  against  the  apparent  want  of  patriotism,  or  mental 
activity,  which  this  very  supine  recipient  of  hereditary  rank 
seems  to  display. 

But,  passing  over  the  Howes  who  have  figured,  or  still 
dwell,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  I  take  it  for  granted 
that  the  whole  of  this  vast  audience  are  descended  from  those 
who  settled  in  New  England  between  1630  and  1637.  It 
would  a])pear,  by  the  circular  kindly  sent  to  me  by  your 
secretary,  that  there  were  seven  of  these,  although  my  father 
used  to  tell  me  that  there  were  but  four.  Two  of  them,  Jo- 
seph of  Boston,  and  Abraham  of  Watertown,  may  have  been 
sons  of  some  of  the  others,  if  they  married  early,  which  is 
])robable ;  but  I  take  the  list  as  1  find  it,  and  to  me  it  is  full 
of  interest.  What  was  the  Old  World  about  when  these  men 
came  to  America?  Why  did  they  come?  are  questions  that 
naturidly  occur  to  us.  In  1629,  Charles  the  First  dissolved 
his  Parliament,  and  no  other  was  called  in  England  till  the 
Long  Parliament  met  in  1G40.  During  the  eleven  years 
Avhicli  intervened,  we  all  know  what  was  going  on  in  England. 
Laud  was  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Strafford  was  first  Min- 
ister, and  that  hopeful  experiment  was  being  tried  of  ruling 
without  Parliaments,  which  ended  in  the  wreck  and  ruin  of 
the  monarchy.  Within  these  eleven  years  five  of  the  seven 
Howes  were  settled  in  New  England,  and  the  reasonable  pre- 
sumption is  that  they  found  old  England  too  hot  for  them. 

They  had  no  fancy  for  paying  ship  money  on  compulsion, 
for  having  their  ears  cropped,  or  for  standing  in  the  pillory 


13 


for  the  free  expression  of  opinions;  antl,  perhaps  foreseeing 
what  was  comin<^,  they  accomplished  what  it  is  sjud  Crom- 
well, Hampden,  andotiuM's  at  one  time  meditated,  and  reached 
America  before  the  Civil  War  began.  Tlie  earlier  battles  of 
Worcester  and  Edgehill  were  fought  in  1642,  and  before  this 
five  of  the  Howes  had  made  good  their  lodgment  in  America. 
If  the  two  who  date  from  1652  and  1657  were  not  born  in 
this  country,  they  may  have  taken  the  field ;  but  of  the  fact 
we  have  no  authentic  I'ecord. 

It  is  enough  for  us  to  know  that  these  ancestors  of  ours 
were  God-fearing,  worthy  men,  sprung  from  the  sturdy 
middle  class  of  English  civic  and  rural  life,  who  left  their 
native  country,  not  because  they  did  not  love  it,  but  because 
they  could  not  stay  there  Avithout  mean  compliance  and 
tame  submission  to  usurped  authority.  ^Ve  would  perhaps 
have  been  just  as  well  pleased  had  they  remained  behind, 
and  struck  a  few  manful  blows  for  the  liberties  of  Engiiuid  ; 
but  we  must  accept  the  record  as  we  find  it,  with  this 
source  of  consolation,  that  no  brother's  blood  was  upon 
their  hands  when  they  landed  in  America. 

That  they  were  men  of  worth  and  intelligence,  there  is 
proof  enough.  They  were  i.eemen,  and  proprietors,  in  the 
townships  where  they  settled ;  select  men,  representatives, 
officers,  Indian  commissioners,  and  seem  to  have  brought 
from  the  old  country,  in  fair  measure,  the  common  sense, 
industry  and  thrift,  so  much  needed  by  the  emigrant.  That 
they  were  men  of  fine  proportions  and  of  sound  constitutions, 
I  may  infer  from  the  audience  before  me,  and  from  the  fact, 
which  your  secretary  has  recorded,  that  five  of  these  old 
worthies  left  forty-four  children  behind  them. 

That  those  "  forefathers  of  our  hamlets "  set  us  a  gfood 
example,  their  simple  records  prove.  That  the  Howe 
women  have  been  fruitful,  and  the  men  vigorous,  is  con- 
sistent with  all  I  know  of  their  descendants  on  this  conti- 
nent, and  this  vast  audience,  where  forms  of  manly  beauty 


14 


and  femtilo  loveliness  abonnd,  shows  mo  that  in  physical 
proportions  and  feraiuiuo  attraction  the  race  has  been  well 
preserved. 

But  in  these  sound  bodies  are  there  sound  minds  ?  What 
of  the  intellectual  qualities  and  mental  development  of  the 
family  ?  Have  our  women  been  born  "  to  suckle  fools,  and 
chronicle  small  beer"?  Have  the  men  displayed  the  energy 
and  capacity  for  affairs  demanded  of  them  by  the  free  and 
rapidly  expanding  communities  in  which  they  lived?  It  is 
only  by  the  mutual  interchange  of  fact  and  thought,  at  such 
a  gathering  as  this,  that  we  can  answer  these  questions  to 
our  own  satisfaction.  But  if  1  were  challenged  by  the  trans- 
atlantic branches  of  the  family  to  bear  testimony  upon  these 
points,  I  think,  even  with  my  limited  knowledge  of  your 
country,  I  could  produce  a  group  of  eloquent  senators, 
eminent  soldiers,  distinguished  philanthropists,  and  success- 
ful business  men,  to  prove  conclusively  that,  in  these  United 
States,  the  race  has  not  declined. 

In  turning  to  the  Provinces  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
but  one  of  all  the  Howes  in  these  States  took  the  British  side 
in  the  Revolutionary  War.  Of  my  father  I  spoke,  some 
years  ago,  at  Faneuil  Hall,  and  my  good  friend  Lorenzo  Sa- 
bine (one  of  the  best  writers  and  most  accomplished  states- 
men produced  in  the  Eastern  States)  has  kindly  embodied 
what  was  said  in  the  second  edition  of  his  Lives  of  the  Loyal- 
ists, to  which  I  must  refer  those  who  take  interest  in  the  Brit- 
ish American  branch  of  the  family.  To-day  I  have  leisure  to 
say  only  this,  that  if  it  be  permitted  to  the  saints  in  Heaven 
to  revisit  the  scenes  they  loved,  and  to  hover  over  the  inno- 
cent reunions  of  their  kindred,  my  father's  spirit  will  be  here 
gratified  to  see  that  the  family,  divided  by  the  Revolution,  is 
again  united,  and  that  his  son,  to  use  the  language  which 
Burns  puts  into  the  mouth  of  the  peasant  woman  in  his  Cot- 
ter's Saturday  Night,  is  "respected  like  the  lave." 

Of  the  past  history  of  the  family,  on  both  sides  of  the 


15 


Atlantic,  we  may  bo  justly  proud.  That  the  present  is  full 
of  hope  and  promise  this  j^reat  festival  assures  us.  For  the 
future  I  have  no  fears.  We  meet  to  gather  \\[)  the;  fragment- 
ary biographies  of  the  family,  and  to  encourage  each  other  in 
well-doing,  that  the  family  may  not  decline.  By  honest 
industry  and  manly  exercises  we  must  see  to  it  that  the  race 
is  well  preserved,  and  by  careful  cultivation  that  the  brain  is 
well  developed.  Savage,  in  his  Genealogical  Dictionary,  tells 
ustlmt  seven  of  the  Howes,  prior  to  1834,  had  graduated  at 
Harvard  University,  and  twenty-three  at  other  colleges  in 
New  England.  Nearly  all  the  Howes,  that  I  have  ever 
known,  were  dear  lovers  of  books,  and  reasonably  intelligent. 
To  keep  abreast  with  the  active  intellect  of  the  age  we  must 
be  students  still.  We  inherit  a  rich  and  noble  language. 
We  are  the  "heirs,"  says  Professor  Greenwood,  "of  all  the 
ages  in  the  foremost  files  of  time."  "Knowledge,"  Disraeli 
tells  us,  "is  like  the  mystic  ladder  in  the  Patriarch's  dream. 
Its  base  rests  on  the  primeval  earth  —  its  crest  is  lost  in  the 
shadowy  splendor  of  the  empyrean  ;  while  the  great  authors, 
who,  for  traditionary  ages,  have  held  the  chain  of  science 
and  philosophy,  of  poesy  and  erudition,  are  the  angels  ascend- 
ing and  descending  the  sacred  scale,  and  maintaining,  as  it 
were,  the  communication  between  man  and  Heaven." 

But  we  must  not  be  mere  students.  This  is  not  an  age 
wherein  people  should  be  content  to  see  visions  and  dream 
dreams.  The  work  of  the  world  is  before  us,  and  on  this 
continent  there  is  work  enough  and  to  spare  for  centuries  to 
come.  We  must  do  our  share  of  it,  and  the  family  will  be 
judged  by  the  style  and  manner  in  which  it  is  done.  The 
Scotch  have  a  familiar  phrase,  "  Put  a  stout  heart  to  a  stiff 
brae ;  "  and  Goethe  tells  us,  "  All  I  had  to  do  I  have  done  in 
king]}'  fashion.  I  let  tongues  wag.  What  I  saw  to  be  the 
right  thing  that  I  did."  May  your  hearts  be  "stout"  when 
the  "  braes  "  are  "  stiff."  Let  the  world  take  note  of  you  that 
you  are   good   husbands,  good  fathers,  good  citizens,  and 


16 


true  and  hoiiorablo  men ;  that  your  doBcondants  may  corao 
up  here  to  Framingham,  looking  back  at  this  festival  as 
though  from  itH  fruits  it  wore  worth  a  repetition  ;  and  come, 
not  to  glorify  a  more  name,  that  has  no  significanco,  but  to  see 
that  au  honorable  name,  wiiich  they  inherit,  is  kept  untar- 
nished, and  transmitted  with  new  histre  to  their  children. 

But  let  us  hope  that  these  family  meetings  may  be  made 
to  subserve  a  higher  purpose  than  the  more  renewal  of  broken 
ties  of  relationship  in  limited  circles.  May  they  not  embrace 
a  wider  range,  ascend  to  a  higher  elevation,  and  have  a 
tendency  to  draw  together,  not  only  single  families,  but  that 
great  family  that  the  unhai)py  events  which  led  to  the 
Revolutionary  War  divided  into  three  branches  ? 

Germany  had  its  Seven  Years'  War,  and  its  Thirty  Years' 
War,  to  say  nothing  of  centuries  of  rivalries  and  divisions, 
and  yet  a  common  sentiment,  "the  Fatherland,"  is  rapidly 
uniting  all  who  speak  its  language,  love  its  literature,  and  are 
proud  of  its  martial  achievements.  The  Civil  Wars  of  France 
have  been  endless,  and  yet  the  common  ties  of  literature 
a!id  language,  however  rudely  those  of  brotherhood  are 
broken  at  times,  draw  the  whole  people  together;  and, 
though  kings  and  emperors,  republics  and  communes,  pass 
away,  under  them  all  the  common  sentiment  is,  "Vive  la 
France  ! "  and  this  is  the  cry  of  a  united  people,  when  each 
system  in  its  turn  has  been  overthrown. 

Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  have  had  eleven  years 
of  war,  eight  at  the  Revolution  and  three  in  the  foolish  strug- 
gle which  lasted  from  1812  to  1815.  What  are  eleven  years 
in  history  ?  Your  own  Civil  War  lasted  nearly  four,  and  more 
men  were  killed  in  it  than  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States 
could  ever  put  into  the  field  in  those  old  contests  which  sen- 
sible men  everywhere  remember  only  to  regret.  You  hope 
to  be,  and  I  trust  the  hope  may  be  realized,  a  united  people. 
Why  should  not  the  three  great  branches  of  the  Brii,ish  fam- 
ily unite,  our  old  wars  and  divisions  to  the  contrary  notwith- 


ll 


17 


standing  ?  This  is  "a  consummation  devoutly  to  bo  \vislied." 
Ocean  steamers,  railroads,  cheap  postage  and  telegraphs, 
make  a  union  possible  ;  and  gatherings  such  as  this  may  has- 
ten on  the  time,  when,  living  nnder  dillercnt  forms  of  gov- 
ernment, and  each  loyal  to  the  institutions  it  prefers,  the 
three  gi-eat  branches  of  the  British  family  ma}'^  not  only  live 
in  perpetual  amity,  but  combine  to  develop  free  institutiiins 
everywhere  and  to  keep  the  peace  of  the  world. 

Such  a  union,  to  be  permanent,  must  be  based  on  mutual 
respect,  and  on  a  just  appreciation  of  the  position  and  resour- 
ces of  each  branch  of  the  Great  Familv.  The  marvellous 
growth  and  vast  resources  of  these  United  States  are  frankly 
acknowledged  by  every  rational  English  and  British  American 
man  that  I  know.  That  your  country  contains  nearly  forty 
millions  of  people,  as  intelligent,  industrious,  inventive,  and 
martial,  as  any  other  equal  number  on  the  face  of  the  earth, 
wo  frankly  admit ;  but  I  am  often  amused  at  the  style  of 
exaggeration  adopted  in  this  country,  and  at  the  mode  in 
which  we  Britishers  are  talked  of  on  platforms,  and  in  circles 
not  over  well  informed.  Four  millions  of  freemen  on  the 
other  side  of  the  line,  who  govern  them  elves,  and  who  can 
change  their  rulers  when  Parliament  sits,  any  night  of  the 
year,  by  a  simple  resolution ;  who  could  declare  their  inde- 
pendence to-morrow,  or  join  these  United  States,  if  so 
inclined,  are  often  spoken  of  as  serfs  and  bondmen,  because 
they  do  not  care  to  rupture  old  relations,  and  go  in  search  of 
political  guaranties,  which,  by  their  own  firmness  and  practi- 
cal sagacity,  they  have  already  secured.  That  wo  arc  not  lag- 
gards and  idlers  over  the  border  may  be  gathered  from  the 
growth  of  our  cities,  and  from  the  rapid  development  of  our 
industry  in  all  its  branches.  Though  but  a  handful  of  people 
commenced  to  clear  up  our  country  at  the  close  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary War,  we  have  already  a  population  more  numerous 
than  Scotland,  and  have  peacefully  organized  into  provinces 
a  territory  more  extensive  than  the  United  States,  larger  than 


18 


the  whole  Empire  of  Brazil ;  the  volume  of  our  trade  has 
increased  to  $120,000,000;  and  the  mercantile  marine  of 
the  Northern  Provinces  places  them  in  the  rank  of  the  fourth 
maritime  country  in  the  world.  My  own  native  Province,  I 
am  proud  to  say,  takes  the  lead  in  this  honorable  form  of 
enterprise.  Nova  Scotia  owns  more  than  a  ton  of  shipping 
for  every  man,  woman,  and  child  on  her  soil.  The  babe  that 
was  born  yesterday  is  represented  by  a  ton  of  shipping  that 
was  built  before  it  was  born. 

But  are  the  British  Islands  so  decrepit  and  effete  as  we 
sometimes  hear  in  this  country  ?  Is  the  empire  which  is  sus- 
tained by  the  two  other  branches  of  the  family,  unworthy  of 
the  friendship  of  these  United  States?  Would  it  not  bring 
its  share  of  everything  that  constitutes  national  gi'eatness 
into  the  union  of  which  I  have  spoken  ?  Republican  America, 
impoverished  by  the  war  of  Independence,  loaded  with  debt, 
having  a  great  country  to  explore,  finances  to  reorganize,  in- 
stitutions to  consolidate,  and  a  navy  to  create,  has  done  her 
work  in  the  face  of  the  world  in  a  manner  that  challenges  its 
respect  and  admiration.  Her  contributions  to  literature,  her 
able  judges,  sagacious  statesmen,  eloquent  orators,  acute 
diplomatists-  and  eminent  soldiers  and  sailors  have  won  for 
her  a  place  in  civilization  and  history  which  all  British 
Americans  and  Englishmen  proudly  acknowledge.  You  are 
"bone  of  our  bone,"  and  as  one  of  your  Commodores  ex- 
claimed, when  lending  a  helping  hand  to  Englishmen  in  the 
Chinese  rivers,  "blood  is  thicker  than  water,"  and  the  laurels 
you  win,  and  the  triumphs  you  achieve,  even  at  our  expense, 
but  illustrate  the  versatility  and  vigor  of  the  life-currents 
which  we  share. 

Now  let  us  see  what  the  elder  branch  of  the  family  has 
been  about  for  the  last  eighty  years,  and  whether,  as  we 
approach  the  fountain-head,  the  stream  shows  less  anima- 
tion. At  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  all  Lou- 
don was  built  of  wood,  and  thirty  years  after  the  Howes 


19 


settled  in  New  England,  four  hundred  streets  and  thirteen 
thousand  houses  were  consumed  in  the  great  fire.  In  1783, 
the  population  did  not  exceed  six  hundred  thousand,  and 
the  docks  were  not  yet  constructed.  By  the  time  1  saw 
London  first,  in  1839,  the  population  had  increased  to  a 
million  and  a  half;  but  within  the  last  third  of  a  century  the 
numbers  have  swelled  to  about  four  millions,  so  that  the 
metropolis  of  our  empire  is  nearly  as  large  as  the  cities  of 
New  York,  Brooklyn,  Philadelphia,  St.  Louis,  Chicago, 
Baltimore,  Boston,  Cincinnati,  New  Orleans,  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  Buffalo,  all  put  together. 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  the  British  Empire 
was  assumed  to  be  on  the  decline.  Thirteen  noble  provinces 
had  just  been  lost.  She  had  been  humiliated  by  land  and 
sea.  Her  power  on  the  American  Continent  had  been 
shaken  to  its  foundations.  Her  great  rival  had  defeated  and 
triumphed  over  her;  and,  with  her  capital  imperilled  by 
mobs,  and  her  treasury  loaded  down  with  debt,  she  had  but 
a  grim  outlook  for  the  future,  at  that  disastrous  period. 
But  the  people  round  the  old  homestead  were  not  discour- 
aged. The  brain  power  was  not  exhausted,  nor  the  physi- 
cal forces  spent.  They  went  on  thinking,  working,  and 
fighting,  as  though,  like  Antoeus,  they  gathered  strength 
from  their  fall;  and  now,  at  the  end  of  four-fifths  of  a 
century,  let  us  see  what  they  have  accomplished.  On  this 
continent,  profiting  by  the  lessons  of  the  past,  and  learning 
the  science  of  colonial  government,  they  have  planted  and 
fostered  great  provinces  as  populous  as  those  they  lost. 
They  have  explored  and  planted  Australia  and  New  Zea- 
land, conquered  an  empire  in  the  East,  taken  Singapore, 
the  Mauritius,  British  Guiana,  and  Hong  Kong,  and  now, 
instead  of  the  few  feeble  colonies  left  to  them  in  1783,  when 
this  country  broke  away,  they  have  nearly  seventy  great 
provinces  and  dependencies,  scattered  all  over  the  world,  to 
whom  Webster's  drum-beat  is  familiar :   which  contains   a 


20 


population  of  Imndreds  of  millions,  and  secure  to  the  mother 
islands  an  abounding  commerce,  independent  of  all  the  rest 
of  the  world  ;  but  which  they  throw  open  to  free  competi- 
tion, with  a  somewhat  chivalrous  confidence  in  their  own 
resources. 

Of  the  men  produced  in  these  modern  days,  why  should  I 
weary  you  with  a  bead-roll?  Nelson  and  Wellington,  Clive 
and  Njipier,  stand  in  the  front  of  a  noble  army  of  warriors, 
who  have  carried  the  Ked  Cross  Flag  by  land  and  sea ;  and 
under  its  ample  folds  great  statesmen  have  remodelled  their 
institutions,  reformed  their  laws,  enlarged  the  franchise,  lim- 
ited the  prerogative,  and  laid  the  foundations  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty  broad  and  deep.  Nor  have  the  Mother 
Islands  hung  their  harps  upon  the  willows ;  while  their 
engineers  have  covered  the  ocean  with  lines  of  steamships, 
and  their  architects  have  embellished  the  scenery  with  noble 
structures,  their  great  writers  have  remodelled  history, 
and  the  melodious  strains  of  Scott  and  Byron,  of  Hemans 
and  Campbell,  have  been  heard  above  the  din  of  workshops 
that  never  tire,  the  ebb  and  flow  of  capital  enlarging  with 
each  pulsation,  and  the  gradual  unfolding  of  that  marvellous 
web  and  woof  of  finance,  whose  meshes  envelop  the  world. 

I  have  but  little  more  to  say.  If  it  be  wise  to  gather  the 
Howes  together,  and  renew  old  fixmily  ties,  how  much  more 
important  will  it  be  to  bring  together  the  three  great  branches 
of  the  British  fomily,  and  unite  them  in  a  common  policy,  as 
indestructible  as  their  language,  as  enduring  as  the  litera- 
ture they  cannot  divide  I 

Out  of  such  a  union  would  flow  the  blessings  of  perpetual 
peace,  for  no  foreign  power  would  venture  to  assail  us,  and 
we  would  be  sufficiently  strong  to  be  magnanimous  when 
international  difficulties  arose.  Ships  enough  to  keep  the 
peace  of  the  seas  would  bo  all  wo  should  require.  With  a 
landwehr  of  millions  in  reserve,  our  standing  armies  might  be 
reduced  to  the  minimum  of  cost.     Capital  would  ebb  aud 


i 


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W    M 


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W    M 


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21 

flow  freely  over  the  whole  confederacy;  our  transports, 
instead  of  carrying  war  material,  might  carry  the  snrplus 
population  to  the  regions  where  labor  was  wanting  and  land 
was  cheap ;  ocean  telegrams  would  come  down  to  a  penny 
rate ;  and  our  national  debts  would  disappear,  by  the  gradual 
increase  of  the  population,  and  the  growth  of  the  general 
prosperity.  May  the  great  Father  of  mercies  hear  our  prayers, 
and  so  overrule  our  national  counsels,  that  we  may  come  to 
be  one  people,  living  under  different  forms  of  govemment  it 
may  be,  but  knit  together  by  a  common  policy,  based  upon 
an  enlightened  appreciation  of  each  other's  strength,  and  on 
a  sentiment  of  mutual  esteem. 


